Edward Seago: As a Host

"Venice" by Edward Seago

"Edward Seago invariably contrived that the stream of visitors to Dutch House, his home and studio, had every opportunity to see him paint. His desire for an audience arose, perhaps, not from vanity but from a positive need for constant reassurance and admiration, to combat the persistent feeling of insecurity that no financial reward appeared to allay. He disliked being alone and, moreover, enjoyed sharing with friends his own passionate love of painting so that, just as a great musician in the role of host might offer to entertain his guests by playing to them, Seago was also happy to display to them his own greatest gift.

Friends accepted as a matter of course that after dinner everyone adjourned to the studio to talk or watch television. After a time their host would move over to his easel and begin painting. Occasionally someone would stroll across and watch and offer not too critical comments. Michael Denison and Dulcie Gray, two of Seago's many stage friends, recalled the first time they stayed at the Dutch House. After dinner the painter said, 'You've only seen my finished work, would you like to see me painting?' Denison watched a familiar scene on the Grand Canal in Venice re-created, with lightning brush strokes, in less than half an hour. As the picture took shape he asked if some of the smaller insignificant buildings, at the left of the church of St. Mara del Giglio, were products of the painter's imagination. 'No, no, no,' Seago protested. 'They're exactly correct. I have a total mental photograph of the place.'

Invariably he used oils when painting in front of his friends. 'With oil I can be totally relaxed,' he told Denison, 'but with watercolours, I'm as taut as a bowstring.'

With the help of his assistant Peter Seymour he was a good host and revelled in the role, although he always assumed his guests would be happy to fit in with all his activities and accept him on his own terms. He provided an idyllic setting where it was easy to relax surrounded by fine paintings, including several Boudins, and a collection of early English watercolours. Meals were produced by the gardener's sister, the inimitable Miss Thompson, who lived in the village but as a young girl had learned to cook in the kitchens of great London houses."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Edward Seago: The Other Side of the Canvas" by Jean Goodman.)